This invention relates to an electronic apparatus having a plurality of user selectable functions.
Nowadays various kinds of electronic apparatus include a microcomputer and it is common in such apparatus for the user to be able to select a particular operating function using a so-called menu. In essence a menu is a set of choices which the user can take in a computer program. Generally the user selects a particular choice by entering the address or location of the desired function in memory. The address is usually entered by pressing appropriate buttons or keys of a keypad, and the selected function may be indicated on a visual display.
Menu selection is frequently used, for example, in radio telephones to permit the user to access and selectively enable a wide range of functions. Typically a menu facility is utilized for setting and displaying a clock, displaying the apparatus"" own telephone number etc. The mobile cellular telephone marketed by the Applicant under trade mark MC905 includes an array of advanced functions which are menu-selectable.
It will be appreciated that it is sometimes desirable to offer variants of a product, eg for different markets or for different territories, in which different functions may be available. For example a particular function may be required for one country or for a fully featured top of the range product, whereas it may be desirable to omit the same function for another country or for a less expensive product.
In the aforementioned Technophone MC905 product, the operating instructions (software) pertaining to the various functions, and the addresses therefor are stored in EEPROM contained in the transceiver housing. Each product variant is provided with a different EEPROM containing the relevant software.
According to the present invention there is provided electronic apparatus having a plurality of user selectable functions, each function having a respective address associated therewith, means enabling the user to enter a first address from a predetermined set of addresses for selecting one of said functions, and means for correlating each address of said predetermined set of addresses with a respective second address, wherein in response to the user entering a first address a function is selected according to the second address correlated with said first address by said correlating means.
An electronic apparatus in accordance with the invention has the advantage that the user selectable features may readily be reconfigured by changing or altering the correlating means, without the need for revising the main operating instructions, i.e. software, relating thereto. Hence common software may be used for all different product variants simply by using an appropriately configured correlating means.
The correlating means, suitably in the form of a look-up table, e.g. stored in random access memory (RAM), is preferably adapted to have one or more of the second addresses altered. Hence the correlating means can be re-configured in situ to provide a predetermined set of user selectable features for a particular product variant without changing either the hardware or the main operating software. In other words there is no need to have a different storage medium (e.g. EEPROM) containing different versions of software for the different product variants.
In a preferred embodiment a further memory is provided for storing the predetermined set of addresses and the respective second set of addresses. The address data may be automatically transferred from the further memory to the look-up table of the correlating means.
The further memory may form part of the same device used for storing the operating instructions relating to the user selectable features. Alternatively the electronic apparatus may comprise a main body and a remote device adapted to be removably coupled thereto, the look-up table being provided in the main body and the further memory means in the remote device. Means are also provided for detecting when the remote device is coupled to the main body, and means responsive to the detecting means automatically transfer the stored addresses from the further memory means to the look-up table when the remote device is coupled to the main body.
If the look-up table is stored in random access memory which is volatile, the information content will be lost each time the power is disconnected. In this case it may be arranged for the address data to be transferred automatically from the further memory means to the look-up table each time the power is restored. Hence the look-up table is refreshed automatically.